The present invention relates to a faceplate for an electrical switchboard having improved functions and characteristics.
It is known that low-voltage industrial electrical systems which handle high-level currents, and therefore high power levels, usually use specific devices which are commonly known in the art as automatic power circuit breakers.
These automatic circuit breakers are meant to provide the performance required to ensure the correct operation of the electric power supply circuit that they protect and of the loads connected thereto. In particular, they protect the loads against abnormal events caused for example by failures arising from short circuits or overloads by automatically opening said power supply circuit; they allow the correct connection/disconnection of loads to/from the electric power supply circuit; they ensure that the nominal current for the various connected users is actually equal to the required current; they allow, by way of a manual intervention on an actuation lever of said circuit breaker and the associated separation of the moving contacts from the fixed contacts, the complete insulation of a load with respect to a power supply source and the consequent disconnection of the circuit that they protect.
In practical use in electrical systems, automatic circuit breakers are generally used by arranging them in appropriately provided electrical switchboards, typically electrical distribution switchboards. These switchboards, according to solutions which are widely known in the art, use a supporting frame which bounds a volume in which the circuit breakers and any other electrical and/or electronic devices of the switchboard are placed; furthermore, said frame constitutes a skeleton which is suitable to structurally support the various components of the switchboard that are functionally connected thereto, such as guides or supporting plates on which the circuit breakers and the various devices are arranged, cladding plates, doors for opening/closing said switchboards, et cetera.
In particular, the switchboards are provided with appropriate inspection doors which are functionally connected to the frame and are provided with suitable windows which allow to view and access the elements for controlling the circuit breakers and any other devices that are present.
In the current state of the art, the solutions used to provide the doors and the modes for coupling to the devices have some drawbacks. In order to ensure correct coupling between the devices and the door, adequate functionality of the parts, safety and practicality in use, as well as a pleasant aesthetic appearance of the assembly, the doors require blanking operations with highly precise carpentry work; essentially, they require complicated and expensive production processes.
In order to obviate these drawbacks at least partially, faceplates or escutcheons are fixed along the edges of the windows of the doors and are provided with openings which are suitable to accommodate the front part of a circuit breaker or of another device. The fixing of said faceplates, however, requires additional work for providing, around the window, appropriate fixing holes which are suitable to accommodate screws or tangs for interlocking. Furthermore, since said fixing is currently based on rigid couplings, it is a particularly critical aspect of the installation. Even slight inaccuracies can in fact entail degradation of one or all of the required functions; in such situations it is therefore necessary to resort to expensive manual interventions or even replace the entire door affected by the installation inaccuracy and reject it, with the consequent financial damage.